The Internet is very useful as a medium of communication and provision and retrieval of information. The Internet became also a medium in which individuals form or associate themselves with virtual communities consisting of individuals with common interests, backgrounds, etc. In order to belong to such a virtual community an individual ‘surfing’ the Internet typically needs to locate the proper website and register. It would have been useful to have an Internet-based means that will be able to associate an individual with one or more communities (“community” including individuals with family relations, individuals having a common interest, individuals having a similar origin or background, etc.), based on a self entered profile.
The Internet also proved to be a useful tool for individuals to locate family members, lost friends, etc. This requires posting notes on appropriate virtual bulleting boards, using appropriate search engines, etc. This, however, is a relatively chance process and does not always bring the desired results. It would have been useful to streamline this process.
Some background information may be found in the following publications:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,373,488 to Gasper et al., discloses a three-dimensional tree-structured data display;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,416,325 to Gross discloses a genealogical analysis tool;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,513,059 to Gupta et al., discloses an adaptive collaborative intelligent network system;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,553,350 to Carter discloses a method and apparatus for pricing products in multi-level product and organizational groups;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,570,567 to Eaton, discloses a system and method for using a graphical interface for the presentation of genealogical information;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,742,001 to Ripley discloses a system and method for sharing data between hierarchical databases; and
U.S. Pat. No. 6,886,015 to Notargiacomo et al., discloses a method and system for building a family tree.
Over the last decade, as the human genome has become unraveled, there has been a marked interest in developing systems and methods for providing personalized medicine services. “Personalized medicine” is understood to broadly pertain to providing a medical service to an individual, matched to his genetic makeup and to providing a tailored medical treatment at the right time, and at the right dosage based on his/her personalized medical parameters.
US 2002048755A, to Cohen, describes a system for developing diagnostic assays, useful in determining whether a particular therapeutic agent will benefit an individual, comprises a continuum of processes that advance diagnostic development while concomitantly benefiting development of the therapeutic agent. This continuum of processes, which is of dual use, in promoting both diagnostic and drug development, is highly economic and efficient, and creates synergy between pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies.
US 2005246314A, to Eder, describes methods, program storage devices and systems for developing a Personalized Medicine Service for an individual or group of individuals that can support the operation, customization and coordination of computer systems, software, products, services, data, entities and/or devices.
US 2007087365A, to Sieben et al., shows that there are twenty-three markers which are epigenetically silenced in ovarian cancers. The markers can be used diagnostically, prognostically, therapeutically, and for selecting treatments that are well tailored for an individual patient. Restoration of expression of silenced genes can be useful therapeutically, for example, if the silenced gene is a tumor-suppressor gene. Restoration can be accomplished by supplying non-methylated copies of the silenced genes or polynucleotides encoding their encoded products. Alternatively, restoration can be accomplished using chemical demethylating agents or methylation inhibitors. Kits for testing for epigenetic silencing can be used in the context of diagnostics, prognostics, or for selecting “personalized medicine” treatments.